Peace and Quiet
by DarkPoisonousLove
Summary: During a quiet moment when the battle with the monsters is on hold Faragonda seeks out Griffin in hopes of resolving the conflict that had been standing between the two of them for years now. Set at the end of season 1.


**A/N: This was born from a random prompt one night when I was having all! the! feelings! about this friendship but it took me so long to edit. It's here now, though, so... Enjoy!**

Quiet. It was quiet for the first time in hours. There were no screeching creatures in the sky and no monsters trying to destroy Alfea along with all of its inhabitants, temporary and permanent. The thought of sleep was tempting but apart from it being ill-advised–this was just the calm before the storm, really, and they were still in the middle of a war–it also seemed distant and impossible. She'd never find the peace of mind required to fall asleep while her students and friends were all kept on their toes, anxious and wary, anticipating a new wave of monsters at any moment. But there was also something else that left her restless and alarmed. Or rather, someone.

She'd been watching Griffin ever since the witch had arrived with her students, not letting her out of her sight for a second. They hadn't spoken to each other except in regards to strategy and the battle but words were unnecessary when you could read between the lines and see what was left unsaid.

Griffin was tired. In all fairness, they all were, but with her it was a different kind of tired, an exhaustion most certainly brought on by guilt and her own self deprecating thoughts. Their friendship went back a long time and even if it had been severed for years, Faragonda still knew what each and every one of her friend's emotions looked like.

She approached her timidly where Griffin had isolated herself in the darkest, most remote end of the surviving part of the school. She wanted nothing more than to offer her comfort but she didn't know if she'd be allowed that. Griffin had usually refused her compassion and reassurances even when their friendship and Griffin's guilt had been at their strongest. And even despite that, she had to try. For her friend.

Griffin didn't look at her but she'd heard her approach. That much was clear from the way she tensed even more although Faragonda hadn't thought it possible. It should've discouraged her. But if she didn't try to take care of Griffin, then no one would. Least of all Griffin herself.

"Do you want to talk?" she asked softly as she placed a hand on the windowsill of the window Griffin was looking out of. It was surprising she'd let her come this close without pulling away from her–she just kept her stiff posture with her arms crossed in front of her and her back so straightened it looked painful, her focus on the view from the window–but it certainly wasn't unwelcome.

"Talk about what?" Griffin asked as she kept looking out to the sky and the forest, keeping herself battle-ready in case of an attack. Her voice wasn't cold or harsh. It sounded rather empty and Faragonda really didn't like that because if Griffin was quiet on the outside, then the storm was raging inside her, leaving her no peace whatsoever. "About the biggest mistake I've made in the past fifteen years?" The words hit Faragonda not only with the blame Griffin put on herself for the current situation, but also with the guilt about the past that still seemed to linger. Still, it was better for her to let it out instead of keeping it inside and letting it pile up. "What is there to talk about? I think we both know what happened." Her gaze was on the situation outside still as if she trying to summon the monsters so that she could dive headfirst into battle and defeat them or die trying. And Faragonda wished that they had another option but, currently, that was their reality. The battle would come to them sooner or later and that only pushed her to say what she had to say now.

"You wanted to believe that they were better. That they weren't like... _them_," she said, the bitter smile taking over Griffin's face filling her with the need to grab her friend and shake her because they both knew what had happened. Griffin wasn't stupid. She'd connected the dots way back when the Trix had still been at the beginning of their freshman year. She'd worked for the Ancestral Witches and she knew what their powers looked like. Finding the link between the two trios of witches hadn't been hard. The decision she'd taken after that, though, had been a risky move and they were paying for it now which made it even harder to not look back on it and regret it. But it hadn't been wrong of her to want to find the good in three young girls.

"And where did that get us?" Griffin asked, a dry, humorless chuckle escaping her before the despair made her voice a little too high-pitched for both their liking.

"Wishing to give someone a chance was never the problem." Maybe some actions that had followed that choice should have been different but mulling over the past wouldn't do them any good. A lot of things could have been different but they weren't. "If I hadn't saved your life back then, I would've never forgiven myself. No matter what came afterwards." Griffin had done many terrible things when working for the Ancestral Coven and she'd still chosen to protect her because she'd known there was good in her. And Griffin had seen something in those three young girls that had made her believe they could be better than following in the Ancestral Witches' footsteps. Maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe not. Their current situation still wasn't solid proof. But it was true that they were facing possible death so she wanted to get some things off her chest. "I actually wanted to talk about us." She hesitated for a moment when she got no reaction to the sharp change of topic–Griffin had quieted down ever since she'd taken the word, her head slightly bowed–but she decided to speak now before she lost her chance or her courage. "I missed you."

That finally got Griffin to look at her and for a moment she wasn't sure if she wouldn't laugh at her. "Jumping from my biggest mistake right to the second best?" she asked and the forced amusement of the words was like a slap in the face. Maybe it would've been better if she'd laughed at her instead. "If you're trying to make me feel better, Fara," the pet name made her heart flutter with hope, "it's not working." Griffin looked back to the gray skies outside as if the depressing bleakness of their surroundings was better than any reassurances and closeness with someone else.

Faragonda knew she wasn't trying to be cruel but her words and her behavior hurt enough to spark the impulse to pull away in her. "Why not?" she asked instead, holding on to the edge of the windowsill for support and to anchor herself there.

Griffin didn't answer, standing still like a statue and her coldness was so disheartening. If Faragonda didn't know her so well, it would have driven her away, making her abandon their friendship and betray them both. And that was exactly what Griffin was going for but she couldn't allow it. Not anymore. Not when that could be their last conversation.

"I'm still your frie-"

"Because I abandoned you," Griffin snapped at her, turning so rapidly that it startled her and when she met her gaze, her eyes were full of regret that wanted to become tears but she wouldn't let it. "I am the reason why you had to miss me," she fired out as the tears welled up. "I was stubborn and I didn't want to fix our friendship," she looked down at the floor as if wishing for it to swallow her. "Even though I missed you too." The last part was whispered with shame that added unnecessary ugliness to the precious words. It was all Faragonda had wanted to hear since they'd stopped talking to each other.

"I was quite stubborn myself," she said as she stepped closer. There'd been times when Griffin's refusal to acknowledge her had gotten the best of her and she'd ended up on the offense, hurting them both. She wasn't proud of that either but they had to get past it if they wanted to fix things. And now was as good a time as they'd ever get. "What's important is that... we're here for each other now," she tried to sound convinced but she wasn't sure if she wasn't pushing it. Though, hesitation hadn't gotten them far, and someone had to make the first step. "We're in this together, okay?" she asked as she took Griffin's hand in hers, drawing her gaze to her as well and was relieved to see that the tears were gone.

Griffin gave her a faint smile that may as well have been a response to her naivety and nodded. Just the fact that she still hadn't pulled her hand away would've been enough for Faragonda but the silent confirmation brought her happiness she'd thought she may never feel again with the battle raging outside their doors. But the fight between her and Griffin was over and they were standing together with only peace and quiet between them, and not the angry, stubborn silence of the years they'd spent avoiding each other. Now she just had to hope that they wouldn't be pulled apart by death in the next few hours.


End file.
